Best Places to Stay in Porto: Our Hotel Tips by Neighborhood

The Neighborhoods to Stay in Porto on a Map

To make things even easier for you, we’ve marked the neighborhoods we recommend for staying in Porto on this map.

For us, Porto breaks down into three distinct parts. The red-outlined area in the center of the map is Porto’s tourist center.

We’ve divided the tourist center into three sub-areas, shown in yellow, orange, and light blue on our map.

The green-shaded area in the lower corner isn’t really Porto at all — it’s the city of Vila Nova de Gaia, located on the other side of the river, and the heart of port wine production.

The third area, marked in dark blue, covers the neighborhoods of Boavista and Cedofeita, north of the tourist center, where you can blend in with the locals.

All three areas are great for finding a hotel in Porto, and each one has its own distinct advantages — which we’ll walk you through here.

This way you can figure out which area suits you best and where to start your hotel search. For each neighborhood, we’ll also share our personal picks for every budget.

Our Hotel Recommendations for Porto's City Center

The city center is where you’ll find the most important Porto attractions. The Ribeira, running directly along the Douro River, is where most visitors congregate.

Here you can sit at one of the many cafés along the riverfront and soak up the views of the Ponte Dom Luís I bridge and Vila Nova de Gaia on the opposite bank.

Advantages of staying in the city center:

• You’re right in the middle of the action
• Plenty of hotels in every price range
• All the main sights are easily reachable on foot
• Tons of restaurants and bars

Disadvantages of staying in the city center:

• Prices are a little higher than in the surrounding areas
• Depending on your hotel’s location, it can get noisy at night

Our Hotel Picks for Porto’s City Center

Our Hotel in Porto: Oporto Loft

We spent the first two of our four days in Porto at the Oporto Loft Art Hotel. It has just five rooms, each decorated differently and with real care.

The art hotel is housed in a renovated historic building and run with obvious love by its owners. The rooms are genuinely tasteful and feature artwork by local artists.

The whole building is really a kind of art exhibition — and many of the furnishings are even available to buy.

Breakfast was fantastic, and we can only imagine how lovely the garden behind the house must be in summer.

Since it rained almost the entire first two days of our stay, we unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy it.

The location is also excellent — you’re just a few minutes’ walk from the heart of the tourist center.

Wi-Fi is available throughout the whole building, which is always important to us.

Vila Nova de Gaia: Our Hotel Tips for the Other Side of the River

Our second area for finding a place to stay is Vila Nova de Gaia — the city on the other side of the Douro River, home to 180,000 residents and the center of port wine production.

From here, you get a wonderful view of Porto and can reach the city center in about ten minutes on foot, or hop on the metro to cross to the other side.

Advantages of staying in Vila Nova de Gaia:

• You have a great view of Porto’s skyline
• Hotels in every price range
• Lots of port wine cellars and restaurants right at your doorstep
• The chance to stay at one of Europe’s best hotels — the The Yeatman Hotel

Disadvantages of staying in Vila Nova de Gaia:

• To get to Porto, you have to cross the river — factor in a little extra time
• Most of the main attractions are on the other side of the river
• The hotel selection isn’t quite as wide as in Porto itself

Our Hotel Picks for Vila Nova de Gaia

Our Hotel Tips for Boavista and Cedofeita

The third area we love for finding accommodation in Porto is the two neighborhoods of Boavista and Cedofeita, north of the tourist center.

You can use Rua de Boavista as the northern boundary for this area. Lots of great lodging options are located along this street, and we highly recommend the neighborhood.

Just make sure your hotel isn’t too far west — for us, the roundabout at the Casa de Música marks the western boundary of this area.

Both neighborhoods are less touristy than the other two areas we’ve covered, yet you’re still only about a ten-minute walk from the thick of the action.

Two great highlights are right in this area too: the Bom Sucesso market hall and the Casa de Música concert hall.

Advantages of staying in Boavista and Cedofeita:

• A quieter, less touristy vibe
• Lots of hotels in every price range
• Excellent value for money

Disadvantages of staying in Boavista and Cedofeita:

• You’ll need to factor in about a ten-minute walk to reach the tourist center

Our Hotel Recommendations for Boavista and Cedofeita

Our Hotel in Porto: Baumhaus Serviced Apartments

We spent our last two of four days in Porto at the Baumhaus Serviced Apartments. Rarely have we felt so at home in a place to stay.

“Hotel” isn’t really even the right word — they’re beautifully furnished apartments where you have everything you need: a fully equipped kitchen, a private balcony, Wi-Fi, a TV, a dining table, and a coffee machine with coffee included.

We really would have loved to stay longer.

It’s also a lovely touch that the apartment is cleaned spotlessly every day and there are always two cold beers waiting in the fridge — included, of course.

We fell in love with the name “Baumhaus” — which means treehouse — right away.

After all, who wouldn’t want to sleep in a treehouse again?

We also asked the wonderful manager Daniela, who took such great care of us, how the name Baumhaus came about — it turns out the owner is originally Portuguese but lives in Germany.

The loving renovation of the entire building was completed just a few months before our stay, and we’re really not exaggerating when we say that architect Ana Coelho did an outstanding job.

The minimalist apartments are absolutely our kind of thing, and we can wholeheartedly recommend this lovingly run place to stay.